Widgets and Gadgets to Enhance Online Courses in Blackboard and Canvas

Dr. Jose Lepervanche, Professor of Management, Information Systems, & E-Commerce, Florida State College at Jacksonville Emerging technologies have allowed online learning to add interactive tools to courses. New web, media and mobile applications, or widgets, and new devices, or gadgets, bring innovative resources to the hands of students and faculty. These tools have been extensively used in Blackboard and now have been extended to Canvas. Dr. Lepervanche’s Web Media Lab (www.webmedialab.org) has been also testing these widgets and gadgets applying both Technology Acceptance and Affordability Models to explore real usability beyond courses into real life. Wireless, tablets, and mobile technologies allow users to be in a virtual office all the time. You are your office.